Split Realities
by EarthHeartIdiot
Summary: She has awoken in a world that she thought was just a game, has she gone insane or is there more going on than she thinks. It will take an adventure of a lifetime to find out the answers.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Characters of FFVII are not mine, though I wish Kadaj and reno were.

AN: well, imma try this. Its a merging of our reality and the reality of ffvii... maybe

Split Realities

"Unh..." a soft voice sighed. Despite its softness it awakened the three sleepers in the glowing house built seemingly right out of a large shell. Three young silver haired men sat up, disoriented but alert. They looked at each other, a question in their green eyes.

"Kadaj? How are we alive?" asked the long haired man.

Kadaj shook his head, his short hair falling across his face, "I don't know Yazoo."

"Did we succeed in our mission? Did we reach Mother?" asked the large built man.

Kadaj put his hand to his head, remembering, "I...I remember resurrecting Sephiroth, and then... being defeated. After that the only clear image I have is of a woman then..." At that moment a sound was heard from outside. Kadaj snapped alert, "Loz, check it out," he commanded in a whisper.

Loz nodded and inched his way to a window overlooking a small lake hidden with the house in a dense forest of glowing trees. Outside, he spotted a figure lying near the water. "Its a girl, I don't see anyone else... She doesn't look armed."

The brothers looked at each other then nodded in silent agreement. They found their weapons near at hand and left the house cautiously. They stopped near the lake side and Kadaj took the lead.

Suddenly the young woman gasped and sat up. She frantically patted her arms and face, as if checking for something, all the while gasping for breath. After a few seconds she calmed down and took in her surroundings, never once noticing her audience, running her hands through her short dark blonde hair. As she stood Kadaj took a step forward but was halted by an image in the water. At first he thought it was her reflection but soon realized the woman in the water was wearing a pink dress while the woman on land was in jeans and t-shirt. He froze farther when he realized he recognized the woman in the water.

He must have made a sound for the young woman spun around, frightened, brilliant blue eyes wide. Her eyes widened further as if in recognition. Then she startled him when she laughed, a wild and frantic sound. "Great, on my death bed and instead of going to heaven I go insane... Though the scenery is pretty, yet I'm stuck with Kadaj and gang, from Final Fantasy VII..." She turned around, still muttering to herself.

Kadaj, startled at hearing her say his name turned to his brothers "Have we met her?" He whispered. Yazoo and Loz shrugged. Kadaj turned back to the young woman who had stopped muttering and was staring at them.

Loz nudged Kadaj, "You want me to kill her?"

Kadaj looked once more to the girl, who looked as if she heard what was just asked but instead of fear he saw resignation. "Go ahead, I'm dead already."

He looked into the water and saw again the woman in pink, the woman he had seen before he died. "No, let her live, she could be of value to us," he ordered his brothers. He turned his attention back on the girl, who actually looked surprised now. "What's your name and how do you know us, and what was the rest of that rambling."

She laughed again, this time not as frantically, "My name is Cassie, and I can answer your last two questions with one answer. Your world, your story and adventure, well the adventures of Cloud Strife that is, is a game series in my world, and a movie called Final Fantasy VII. Thats what I was talking about." She turned around and started walking away.

"Wait, where are you going? Did I say you could leave?" Kadaj ordered.

"I'm going somewhere anywhere, like I said, last thing I remember was laying on my death bed my body failing." She stopped and turned around a thought in her eyes. "If this is a second chance at life or if this is me insane and stuck in my imagination... I'm sure to be able to decide out there, find the answer out there." Her eyes became fierce, "Besides you can't tell me what to do," She said stubbornly.

Kadaj thought quickly, his first urge was to squash this insolent woman, but his and his brothers sudden revival and the appearance of the woman that had delivered him from this world in the reflection of Cassie gave him pause. ~She might be insane, but as I first said she could be of some value,~ he thought. After a few moments he barked an order, "Yazoo, take her to the nearest village, keep an eye on her and when she has decided her next plan of action bring her back here." He turned to Cassie as his brother nodded his understanding. "I'd advise you not to tell anyone about us or about your 'other world' until you've come back with your decision on your sanity."

She sighed, "Fine, whatever. Maybe if I come back you'll decide to tell me why you think I'd be of value." With that she turned around and walked away, Yazoo leading the way.

"What are you planning Kadaj?" Loz asked, dumbfounded.

"It's possible this infuriating woman is an Ancient, that's gone insane, and somehow caused our resurrection. I'd like to keep her close until we figure it out." he turned to his eldest brother, "I want you to go and scout out the surrounding areas, see how much time has passed and what's going on in the world."

Loz nodded and followed after Yazoo and Cassie. When he was alone Kadaj walked to the water's edge, whispering "What are you up to?"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own Cassie

Split Realities

"You know you don't have to follow me," Cassie said to Yazoo.

"No, Kadaj said for me to take you to the nearest village," Yazoo said. "Which should be Bone Village."

Cassie sighed, "You're not gonna wig out on me and try to kill me are you." She slowly inched away from the black clad man.

"No, Kadaj said you are not to be harmed." was the calm response. Yazoo was gazing about, not paying attention to her.

Cassie continued to inch away, keeping her focus on Yazoo. ~He acts like he's high,~ she thought. ~Hopefully its not an act, I might be able to get away...~ She had no idea where she would go, but she knew that ditching the three brothers was in her best interests. ~A few more steps... I got to draw his attention the other way... quick think!~ She pointed in the opposite direction of where she would run , "Look a distraction!" she yelped, then quickly cursed herself. ~He'll never fall for that!~

Surprisingly Yazoo turned and looked, "What?"

Cassie took her chance and ran into the woods as fast as she could, away from Yazoo. ~Oh my god I can't believe he actually looked!~ she thought hysterically.

Yazoo turned back around and shrugged, "She won't get very far," he said to himself and contiued walking down the forest path. "Bone Village is just around the corner and I was told to wait outside the village." He shrugged again.

Cassie continued to run even though she heard no pursuit. Up ahead the trees started to thin and light started to filter through. ~Great.~ When she burst through the edge of the forest she came upon a small village. She paused for breath, and glanced behind her. ~Still no sign of Yazoo... but there's no telling how insistent they'll be to get me back.~ She turned back to the village. ~First thing first, I need to get money, If I remember the game there should be a quick way to get money in this village, I think it was excavating I just hope I don't need money to start...~ She sighed. "No time like the present to try..." she said to no one but herself.

She trotted into town trying to act like everything was normal. The village was rather small and not too busy with people. She saw a food vendor in the street, "Excuse me sir, but do you know where the excavation site is, I heard its a great site to see when in the area." she said approaching him timidly.

He smiled and pointed up the street, "Yeah its just up that way, been pretty dead for awhile, what with the oil rush going on in other continents most people don't bother coming round anymore. Such a shame too, the archeologist said they were getting close to a big payoff."

"Really?" she said conversationally.

The food vendor shrugged, "Yeah, but without any helpers the going has been slow. I'm sure if your insistent and dedicated you could come out with several hundred gil."

"Does it cost anything to help out?" she asked.

"Hm, well it used to be popular enough that they charged you but I'm sure at this point they'll be gratefull enough for the help that they might not charge you." He shrugged again, "Worth a shot."

"Thank you," she said, walking in the direction he gave her.

He gave a friendly wave, "Good luck."

* * *

><p>~Who is this girl, and why was that woman's reflection in the water.~ Kadaj contemplated. He was thoroughly confused and conflicted. He remembered dying and finally feeling peace. In the lifestream he had no feelings of insanity, of needing to take 'revenge on the planet'; he had been free of the looming shadow of Sephiroth and Mother. Now that he was back on Gaia the peace was gone, yet also the feeling of fury and Sephiroth were gone. However in their place were feelings of confusion and emptiness.<p>

He walked to the lake, ~What is our purpose now?~ He looked up past the branches of the glowing trees into the sky. "Why are we here?"

_"Protection,"_ a soft musical voice said.

Kadaj looked around, then from the corner of his vision saw a glimpse of his reflection in the water. He looked down, instead of seeing himself he saw the woman in pink again. "Mother?"

The woman gave a gentle smile, _"No, but I do know one of the reasons your here. Protection and atonement."_

Kadaj's eyes narrowed.

The woman smiled again. _"Yes, even you can have a second chance. What you do with it is still your choice." _She paused then smiled one last time as her image began to fade. _"The true answer to your question you must find out for yourself, though its a question everyone has. Good luck."_

~A second chance?~ he thought, staring into his relfection. ~Second chance for what?~

* * *

><p>Cassie found the excavation site easily enough. Finding the archeologists was a little harder. "Hello?" she called. She saw no one at the dig site, but she did see a small building to the side. She walked up to the door and knocked.<p>

After a few seconds a middle aged man answered the door. "May I help you?" he asked.

"Yes I was wondering if you were needing some help excavating?" she asked hopefully.

The man looked her up and down, thinking. Finally he asked "May I ask why you're interested?"

"Well, I'm in a bit of a pinch, you see I ran out of money and need to get back home." She said with a grimace, seeing the look of resignation on his face she hurridly said "But I also thought it would be a great experience. I've always been fascinated with archeology since I was little, would have gone to school for it but didn't have the money."

He was silent for a moment then sighed, "Well, I guess it can't hurt, except, do you mind staying and helping two weeks? We're really close to a big discovery and we really need the help, I'll even give you room and board. All I ask is that we have, say ten percent of what ever you find and sell."

She nodded and stuck out her hand, "Deal."

He shook it and smiled, "Welcome aboard. My name is Micheal, I just took over the site. What's your name?"

"Cassie."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own Cassie, Micheal the archeologist is loanable lmao

Split Realities

*Three days later*

Yazoo stood at the edge of the tree line on a hill over looking Bone Village, examining the town. He heard a rustle in the brush behind him. He turned to find Loz. "So what did you find out?" he asked.

He shrugged "I followed some travelers for a distance and overheard them talking. They said the five year aniversary of Meteor was coming up in a few weeks."

Yazoo turned back to the town, "Hm, and when we attacked Edge the second aniversary was coming up right?" Loz nodded. "That means three years have passed. Did you find out anything else?"

"Not really, just that and some big festival in Cosmo Canyon held later." Loz shrugged. "What's the girl up to?"

Yazoo shrugged, "She's been excavating, from what I overheard from passerby's she's on a two week contract."

"I guess I go and stake out the other entrance?" Loz asked. Yazoo nodded.

* * *

><p><em>Clink<em>

Cassie's pick hit something. She didn't get her hopes up though, ~Probably another rock.~ She had been digging for days now and had a nice collection of rocks; some of value to the archeologists, most not, all not of value to her pocket. However she went through the routine of carefully scrapping away the rest of the soil alternating with a thick bristled brush and her hands. Soon she saw that it definately wasn't a rock. Something shining violet started to peek through the dirt.

"Hey Micheal, I found something!" She said excitedly, continuing to brush away the dirt.

The archeologist came over and watched her uncover a pile of something akin to amethyst. He tapped her shoulder, indicating her to stop. He reached down and picked up a piece. "Its not a gem, it looks more like a fragment of materia, but I've never seen materia this color," he said to her in explanation. He exerted a little will into the stone and suddenly the other pieces flew to join the piece he was holding. He took a breath in surprise. "Amazing," he looked down at the girl and smiled, "Well it's not what we're looking for but it means we're close." He handed the peices back to her. "My advice, find out what this materia does besides call to the other peices then find the materia store, show them what it does and sell them, keeping some for yourself. You could make a pretty gil with this. Good job," he patted her shoulder then went back to his dig.

Cassie smiled as she put the stones in her pouch. This was turning out to be a good day.

* * *

><p>Later in the day in her room, exhausted from digging, but exuberant she examined her findings. The strange broken materia was just the start of her day. She also found some large pieces of rare metals, three in all, another intact materia, very close to the broken materia, another pile of the strange materia, this time not in so many peices and among those pieces another whole materia. ~Now time to sell this stuff, but first I should try out those pieces.~ She picked up a peice from the pile of shards, all together she had thirteen pieces, four large pieces and nine smaller pieces. ~Now how did he do it,~ She thought, thinking back to how Micheal had discovered the shards powers. ~He looked like he was concentrating really hard.~<p>

She examined the piece in her hand concentrating really hard. After several minutes had passed and she had no results she gave up. ~Dammit, he made it look so easy. I know in the game you just attached it to something and you had spells...~ She thought for a few moments then an idea came to her. ~Insane though it is it's worth a shot.~

She picked up the large shard again and this time instead of concentrating she also sent her thoughts towards the shard. Amazingly it worked, the other three large shards flew to her hand. Surprised yet dissappointed that the other nine peices hadn't moved she concentrated and sent her thoughts to the pile in her hand, willing the other pieces to come to her. They still did not move however she noticed a large red shield surround her. "Cool, but why wont the others come?"

She laid down the pile in her hand and picked up a piece from the other pile. She repeated the process. This time the eight smaller pieces gathered in her hand while the other four remained on the desk. Again she concentrated and sent her thoughts to the shards in her hand. Again something other than what she was wanting occured. This time a blue shield surrounded her. "Huh..." She said, thinking.

After a few moments it hit her, "I get it the two piles are two seperate materia. That's why the big pieces dont call the little pieces." Feeling she had figured it out she tried the two whole materia. One turned out to be a blue shield, while the other turned out to be a red shield. ~Blue usually means Protect, while red usually means Reflect in the final fantasy games.~ she thought.

"Well, now that I've figured out what I have, it's time to see what they're worth," she said, proud of herself.

* * *

><p>She walked out of the store, happy with her haul. The two whole materia turned out to be very advanced in their growth level and brought her a hundred gil a piece while the metals brought her twenty five gil a piece. The store manager was deeply intrigued by the strange materia and upon demonstrating their powers bought eight of the remaining shards; she had decided to take two pieces from each pile for herself. Knowing the value of the unique shards would sky rocket he graciously paid her fifty gil for each set; two hundred gil in all.<p>

She tallied up her money and smiled. ~Four hundred and seventy five gil,~ she thought, ~And only fourty eight of it goes to Micheal.~ She smiled again, feeling very good.

"Well you just look like you hit the jackpot," a familiar voice said.

She turned around and found the food peddler from her first day in the village. She smiled and came over, examining his wares. "Yeah, I did. I found quite a few valuable things at the dig today," she said. She pointed out a few pieces of fruit.

"Ten gil," he said. Then he smiled at her as he accepted the money. "Well that's good. Micheal said you're a great help. So do you like it?"

She grinned, "I do."

"That's good. So what are you going to do when your two weeks is up?" he asked. "Think you might stay?"

Cassie looked away thinking, ~Good question... I enjoy the work but I still need to get away from Kadaj.~ She looked towards the forest. ~I'm sure Yazoo has caught up by now and is waiting to get me...~ She looked apologetically to the food vendor, her answer in her eyes.

He smiled, "Don't worry, I guess we shouldn't really expect that you'd stay, or that we'll have any visitors for at least a month. What with the big Memorial Ball in Edge and the star festival in Cosmo Canyon coming up. You just might make it to the Ball once your two weeks are up." he shrugged. "But just know you'll always be welcomed here."

Cassie smiled her thanks, taking into her head what he had just said. As she walked back to Micheal's and his assistants house a thought struck her. ~Cosmo Canyon, if anyone is bound to know what the hell happened to me surely someone there would. There or Edge.~ She smiled, glad to finally have a plan.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own Cassie, Micheal the archeologist is loanable lmao

Split Realities

*Two weeks later*

Micheal surveyed the excavation site and turned to Cassie. "Well, with your help we have gotten close to what were searching for, signs of the Ancient's civilization." He sighed, "And a deal's a deal, your two weeks are up," he handed her a wallet of gil, "Here, your pay."

Cassie took it, a question in her eyes, "That's not what we agreed on?"

Micheal shrugged, "I know, but you proved yourself to be very valuable and a hard worker, I couldn't let you go without paying you, just take it with my thanks." He looked back at the dig site. "Well, if you're ever in the area again let me know, I'm sure I could use your help again."

"I will, thank you," Cassie said with a smile. They shook hands then she went to the house she had been staying at.

In her room she gathered the few belongins she had aquired during her stay; a few sets of clothing, a set of large throwing daggers and wrist sheathes which she had attached the two sets of materia she had come to call Recall and a travel pack filled with essentials for traveling. "Well, time to see how much I have earned," She said, sitting on her bed and pulling out the wallet Micheal had given her.

A few minutes and several recounts later she gazed in amazement at the gil. With the money Micheal had given her and the money she had saved from her excavations she had roughly around two thousand gil. She knew from talk with the food vendor, Gabe, that a boat ride to the eastern continent would be a hundred gil. She had more than enough to get a ride and even maybe make it all the way to Cosmo Canyon. "Well, one step closer to getting away from Kadaj and finding out what happened to me," she said to herself, packing her extra clothes in her pack and putting on her wrist sheathes with the daggers.

Her stuff all gathered she walked to the entrance of the town. She was in such a good mood she started humming to herself. Half way to the bay that lay just outside of Bone Village her mood quickly went sour when a large figure stepped in front of her. "Loz..." she scowled.

He shrugged, "Brother wants you brought back." He started advancing on her.

She took a few steps back, quickly thinking, ~I can't fight him... and I don't think I'll be able to shake them...~ Her mind went racing trying to find a plan. A thought struck her, ~Yeah, if I can just get to Edge, I can lose them there, or get help, which ever comes first...~ She sighed in defeat, "Fine, lets go then..."

Loz smiled.

* * *

><p>Back at the three's base in the Forgotten City Cassie and Kadaj were in a staring contest.<p>

"Absolutely not," Kadaj said, shaking his head for emphasis.

Cassie crossed her arms, "I might have woken up here with you three but you have no right to stop me," she said stubbornly. "Besides I'm not asking you to go. Anyways you couldn't go, I doubt you could get away showing your face in Edge or even Cosmo Canyon. Not even a change of clothes could mask who you are." She thought, "You might get away if you died your hair, the hair is a dead giveaway."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight til I figure out why were resurrected and if you have anything to do with that," Kadaj said adamantly.

"Well, we won't figure that out unless we go out there now will we?" she asked sarcastically. "Looks like you have no choice."

Kadaj glared at her and walked to the water's edge. He stood staring at his reflection for a time. After a few minutes he spoke, "Why Cosmo Canyon?"

"Well, in the game Cosmo Canyon is where they studied various sciences and philosophies, such as the lifestream and the stars. If anyone is going to understand me when I say I'm from another reality surely someone there would." She shrugged, "Besides, I'm sure someone there would also have an inkling how someone can be resurrected back from the lifestream after dying."

"Hmph," Kadaj said, neither agreeing or disagreeing. His previous life on Gaia was short and frantic; in all actuallity he didn't know much about the world. He only knew one thing, this infuriating stubborn girl was somehow the reason he and his brothers were resurrected. He wasn't about to let her out of his sight as he said. He sighed, ~As much as it aggravates me to say this, she's got a point...~ "Fine, we'll go to Cosmo Canyon."

"Fine," Cassie said shortly. She was rather disappointed that he was insisting going with her. "But we'll have to stop by Bone Village first and get some disguises for you three, and hair dye."

Yazoo and Loz looked at each other, eyes wide. They had been silent during the argument but had listened attentatively. They had feared Kadaj would lose his temper, at this last condition they were sure he'd blow.

Kadaj just glared at the girl but bit his tongue. He knew that they would be passing close to Cloud's town and if they didn't disguise themselves there would be trouble.

"Good, then lets go," she said smiling.

* * *

><p>Later that night at the inn in Bone Village Cassie was examining her handiwork. She had bought Loz a large black t-shirt and loose fitting jeans and Yazoo a long sleeved grey shirt with a leather vest and a pair of jeans. Kadaj she bought a tan leather trench coat, white t-shirt and jeans. She figured if she wanted to survive after making them dye their hair she should try to appease them with clothes. ~Well, it always works for me...~<p>

"Well, here are your clothes, now time for the hair dye..." She threw a box each at the scowling men. "Loz you get brunette, Yazoo you get blonde and Kadaj... you get black..." At this she took a step back, because Kadaj got a very furious look on his face.

"Are you serious, do you think this is some kind of fun game?" he fumed, clutching his sword.

"I thought you said we shouldn't kill her," Loz asked.

"I'm seriously rethinking the idea..." Kadaj said in a growl.

Cassie put her hands up, "Hey, it's either this or be instantly recognized once we get to Edge..."

Kadaj just glared at her.

* * *

><p>The next morning a group of four ordinary looking adventurers boarded the ship to the eastern continent.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie, Micheal the archeologist is loanable lmao

Split Realities

"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick," Cassie moaned, hugging the toilet in their room. Kadaj had insisted the group get their own private room even though the voyage wouldn't last more than two days. At first Cassie thought that was too expensive, but now she was really enjoying the fact no one could watch how bad the trip was affecting her stomach. No one besides Kadaj that is, he refused to leave her alone.

She looked through the doorway into their room to find Kadaj sitting on the small bed sharpening his sword. "Don't you have something better to do, like go hassle your brothers or the other passengers?" she asked.

"No," was the short reply.

~Fucker...~ was all she thought. She would have said it but at that moment a wave of nausea hit her and she leaned over the toilet.

"So why are we stopping in Edge?" Kadaj asked.

Cassie caught her breath and waited for the room to stop spinning before she spoke, "Because, I now don't have enough gil to make it to Cosmo Canyon, I'm hoping to find say a small job or something to get more money. And maybe we can find a group that is also going to Cosmo Canyon and would need help or something. I'm not saying I could handle myself in a fight, but I do have some experience with throwing daggers, it was an odd little past time I enjoyed back home, before I got sick. And I know you three can handle yourselves in a fight, so maybe some small party would like some protection on their travels." She shrugged.

"Hmph," was all Kadaj said.

Another wave of nausea hit her and she again leaned over the toilet. A few minutes later the wave passed. "God I hate being sick..."

"So why aren't you scared of us, or should I say death. If as you say you know our story from your world, then you know what we're capable of," Kadaj asked.

Cassie shrugged again, "I am scared of you and of death, but only because I'm scared it will put me back to where I was before I awoke here." She paused, a clouded look in her eyes. "I was in the hospital, I had had an accident, and even though the doctors fixed me... I just started getting sicker... eventually my body started shutting down, I went into a coma-like state yet even though i had no control of my body I was still aware, could hear, somewhat feel what was being done to me. I knew I was hooked to machines and that several days had passed..." She shivered. "I heard them say there was no hope, and I felt them unhook me from the machines...I... I could feel my lungs exhale but not inhale, could feel and hear my heart slowing down. It was terrifying. At last, when I thought death would finally claim me, when everything went dark... I woke up here..."

Kadaj gave her a thoughtful look but said nothing.

Cassie started to get up, but thought better of it when her stomach lurched. Kadaj sighed as she retched into the toilet, it was going to be a long two days.

* * *

><p>*Three days later*<p>

"Well, we made it all the way to Edge," Cassie said as they stood outside the city entrance. She turned to her unwanted companions. She still didn't know what to think. She couldn't decide if they were still a threat to others or if they had in fact changed after their death. ~Should I still seek out help?~ She wasn't too sure now. She shook her head, "Well, let's go see if we can make some money..." She looked at Kadaj, who was eyeing the city suspiciously. "Shall we?"

Kadaj shrugged, "You sure you need more money?"

"Yeah, I only have just under a thousand gil left, and it's a long way to Cosmo Canyon," Cassie said.

"Fine, just make it quick."

* * *

><p>"Excuse me sir, do you know if anyone is hiring temporary help, I'm traveling and I've run short on money," Cassie asked a man standing in front of a shop.<p>

He looked her over, "Well, the only place I know of that you could make money real quick is over at 7th Heaven. Go there and ask for Strife or Tifa, they're always looking for a helping hand."

Cassie smiled, "Thanks, do you know how I can get there?" She knew that Kadaj would never allow her to go near there.

"Yeah it's just down this street, can't miss it, there's a statue of an angel nearby," he said, pointing.

"Thanks," she said again, heading in the direction he pointed. She looked around her but saw no sign of Kadaj or his brothers. ~if I can just make it to the bar...~

She had almost reached the door to 7th Heaven when Kadaj popped up, "No," was all he said.

She sighed, "Come on, I promise I won't tell them about you, you can even wait outside if you insist." She didn't give him a chance to argue but bolted inside.

"Hello," a calm voice said.

Cassie turned around to find a woman in a long black leather vest behind the bar. ~Okay... here I go...~ She had had the plan of acting like a traveler needing money, but quickly decided that she'd have better luck telling the truth, or as much of it as she could get away with. "Hi, my name is Cassie and well, you're going to think I'm insane, I don't blame you, I'm not too sure on that end myself, but I hope you can help me..." she said in a rush, giving a pleading smile at the end.

Tifa gave her a curious look but nodded, "I'm listening."

Cassie took a breath, "Um... I'm... Well... " She took another deep breath, then spilled her guts as fast as she could. "I come from another reality where this world all your adventures is a game and I was really sick on my death bed and then I woke up here when I thought I died and now I'm trying to find my way to Cosmo Canyon in the hopes that someone might know what the hell happened to me or what..." she paused for breath and looked hopefully at Tifa.

Tifa was quiet for a few seconds then nodded, "Well, that's... pretty interesting..."

"I'll say," a blonde man said, coming from farther back in the bar. He came over to Cassie and studied her eyes. He noticed immediately how blue they were. Then he looked her up and down. "Well, you don't look insane, where did you wake up?"

She was trying to decide how to answer when Tifa went, "Well, Cloud, it looks like we have more surprises."

Cloud turned to Tifa and she nodded to the outside. Cloud turned to see three young men standing near the door, barely visible in the window. "Hm..." Cloud walked to the door and rushed through it, surprising the young men.

Cloud's eyes widened, "Kadaj...? But how?" He shook his head then jerked the glaring young man inside the bar, closely followed by Yazoo and Loz.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked harshly, reaching for his large sword on his back. "How are you alive?"

Kadaj glared and drew his sword. Cassie yelped and threw herself in between him and Cloud, quickly making up her mind. She yelled at Cloud. "They awoke when I awoke here, you asked where I woke up, the Forgotten City. That's where. And they woke up too. They're traveling with me. They're not bad." She turned to Kadaj and whispered fervently, "Behave, don't give them an excuse to kill you, again. You want to learn why you were brought back, well you can't figure that out if your dead can you?"

Kadaj glared at her then at Cloud. He growled thinking he really didn't care, but the words of that mysterious woman floated back to him. ~Second chance, huh. Fine...~ he thought. He sheathed his weapon and motioned for his brothers to do the same.

Cloud stood there, dumbfounded. ~Did she really just defend him... And get him to back down? Who the hell is this woman?~

Tifa was just as dumbfounded. She heard footsteps from the house addition. She turned to see Denzel and Marlene coming down the hall. She shook her head, motioning for them to go back and play in their room. At that moment Cloud's phone started ringing. Cloud picked it up. "Yeah Reeve? I'm kinda in the middle of something here, call back later."

_"Wait Cloud. We have a situation. A large flock of Cockatrices have been spotted at the edge of town, coming our way. We need all abled fighters at the front lines."_ Reeve said quickly.

Cloud sighed, "Fine." He hung up the phone. He looked over Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz. Finally he said, "Well, if it's how she says it is, you have a chance to prove yourself right now. That and I'm not letting you out of my sight." Kadaj just glared at him. Cloud turned to Tifa, "There's a large flock of cockatrices heading our way, stay here and keep the kids inside." He turned to Cassie. "I'd like it if you stayed here as well."

She nodded then glanced at Kadaj.

Cloud nodded once then headed outside, the three brothers following.

After the men had left Tifa glanced at Cassie, "So, there was more to your story?"

Cassie gave a sheepish grin, "Yeah... about that, I'm sorry."

Tifa shrugged and made Cassie a drink, "No problem, here, you look like your nerves are fried."

"Thanks," Cassie said, taking a sip. She could tell it was alcoholic but it didn't taste like anything she had tried before.

"So why Cosmo Canyon?" Tifa asked.

Cassie shrugged, "In the game, Cosmo Canyon is where they studied the lifestream and various eccentric philosophies and sciences. I thought that maybe someone there would understand what I'm talking about, and not think me merely insane."

Tifa nodded, "Well, it really is a pretty outrageous story, but then again, stranger things have happened."

Tifa's cell phone beeped. She flipped it open to read the text.

_Watch her 4 Mako Poisoning_

Tifa nodded to herself. ~She's awfully clear headed for Mako Poisoning, but then again, So was Cloud...~


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie

Split Realities

"Yo Spikey!" a large dark man yelled from the entrance of the city. He waved his mechanical hand in greeting.

Cloud braced himself as he got closer. Sure enough Barret clapped him hard on the shoulder, causing the blonde to stagger. "Hey Barret, what's the situation?"

"Big trouble, we'll need all the help we can get huh," he glanced at the three young men following sullenly behind his friend. His eyes widened as he glanced back at Cloud. "You got some explaining man."

Cloud nodded, "There are some extenuating circumstances regarding those three." He sighed and shrugged, "Regardless I'm not letting them out of my sight. That and they'll be handy in this fight."

"What ever you say Spikey."

* * *

><p>"Tifa, may we go outside and play?" a young boy asked, coming out of the house section followed by a younger girl.<p>

"No, it's dangerous out right now," Tifa said then she motioned to the two kids. "Denzel, Marlene I want you to meet Cassie."

"Hi," Cassie said shyly.

"Hi," Denzel said. Marlene waved.

"Tell you what, lets play a game," Tifa said, crouching down to be on eye level with the children.

"Yeah!" Marlene said excitedly, Denzel nodding.

"How about..." then she turned to Cassie, "What do you suggest?"

Cassie blushed, "Do you have dominoes?" Tifa nodded. "Well, Mexican Train is always fun I find."

Tifa gave her a curious look, "I haven't heard of that one, do you mind showing us how to play?"

Cassie nodded.

* * *

><p>*Three hours later*<p>

_clink_

"Ah a double," Cassie said as Denzel laid down the double six on his train. "Now can you cover it?"

Denzel looked at his hand, "No... So I draw?"

Cassie nodded, "Yeah, unless you can play on the train or Tifa's, see she's got a train up..."

He looked at his hand, "Yeah I can," he quickly laid down the three two on Tifa's train.

Tifa growled, "Denzel, I was gonna play on that."

Denzel laughed as Marlene, on his left, studied her hand. "So I have to play a six to cover the double right?" Cassie nodded. "Well... I draw if I don't have one right." She asked as she drew a domino. She shook her head.

"Well, here I go," Tifa said, drawing a domino, she looked at it and shook her head.

Cassie smiled as she went to draw a domino. Suddenly a sound outside the bar startled the four gamers. Tifa and Cassie stood. Cassie quickly unsheathed her daggers, then sending a prayer up, ~I hope this works...~ she flicked the two daggers on either side of their table. She was immensly relieved when a blue and red shield surrounded the four.

Tifa noticed the Protect and Reflect shield but immediately turned her attention back to the door. A few seconds later she sighed as Cloud and Barret walked in the door, followed by Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. Marlene, seeing her dad gave an excited yell and started to get up to rush her dad but Tifa stopped her. "Marlene, we have to wait for Cassie to release her barrier."

Cloud nodded then looked to Cassie as she willed the daggers to return. They flew to her hands. "Neat trick," he said as she sheathed them.

"Thanks, I found this strange broken materia at the excavation site in Bone Village. I call it Recall," she said as Marlene rushed into Barret's arms.

"Well, you're good in my book," Barret said, "You helped Tifa take care of the kids. Anyone who does that is ok by me."

"Thanks," Cassie said, blushing.

Cloud looked from the three brothers to Cassie, then he looked to Tifa, she gave a small shrug. "Well, we'll take you to Cosmo Canyon, but first we have the Memorial Ball to attend to tomorrow." He sighed and glanced at the three brothers. "And you're coming with us. Come on, let's go find you tuxes..." he scratched his head.

"Cassie, while the guys are out getting their tuxes let's go get you a dress," Tifa said, turning to the small blonde. She gave her a surprised look then gave a small nod. Tifa turned to Marlene, "Want to come?"

Marlene nodded excitedly.

* * *

><p>"None of the guys are too happy about the Ball," Tifa said in explanation as they walked to the dress shop. She smiled, "If Cloud could he'd take any excuse to get out of it, but unfortunately he has been asked to give a speech."<p>

"Ah, I understand, I was never one for public speaking. I had to take a class on it in college and I had the butterflies the entire time," Cassie said.

"Cassie, you don't have to go to the Ball," Marlene said, "Why don't you stay with me and Denzel, we don't get to go." She gave a small pout.

"Marlene, Cassie is on an adventure, and she has asked for our help. I want her to go to the Ball because I think she can meet some people that will be of more help to her on her adventure," Tifa said gently. "Understand?" Marlene nodded but still had a pout. Tifa sighed, "Tell you what you can help us pick out a dress for her. That a deal?" Marlene smiled. "Good, here we are."

They walked into the little shop. Cassie could tell it was very popular, everywhere she looked she found all types of dresses. "Ah Tifa," an elderly lady greeted them, "Come for your dresses?"

Tifa nodded, "And we also need another," she indicated Cassie. "We need one for her. Marlene what color do you think?"

Marlene studied the young woman, then said excitedly, "Blue, to match her eyes!"

Tifa nodded, "Blue it is then,"

The dress maker came and studied Cassie, "Hm, I have a few choice dresses that might fit the bill. I'll be right back."

She disappeared among the racks of clothing. She was gone only a few minutes then returned with three dresses. "Here we are, now why don't you go try them on."

* * *

><p>An hour later the girls were walking back to 7th Heaven, carrying three dresses. "Tifa, who's the third dress for?" Cassie asked.<p>

Tifa laughed, "For our old comrade Yuffie, she's bound to show up tomorrow. We gave her false info that the Ball was tonight. So she'll no doubt come tomorrow and say how sorry she was that she missed it." Tifa smirked, "We actually had to pull that trick on another friend Cid too. Cloud has his tux."

Cassie laughed. They walked on in silence for a bit. They had just about reached the bar when Cassie asked "So who might I meet at the Ball that could help me?"

"Well," Tifa said. "First there's Nanaki, he's from Cosmo Canyon. In fact his father was the lead philosopher and scientist there during his time. The other person would be Rufus Shinra. His company has files on just about everything."

Cassie nodded.

* * *

><p>Later that night, while their unexpected guests were asleep, Tifa, Cloud and Barret stayed up deep in discussion.<p>

"I'm not sure Cloud. She seems very coherent. She even taught me and the kids a game that I've never heard of, knew the rules and everything..." Tifa said.

"Well, as I see it, we have three possibilites," Barret said. "First is that it's Mako poisoning, second, she's telling the truth, third... That she is an Ancient and was somehow awoken..." Barret shrugged. "As I recall Ancients are deeply tied to the planet and lifestream. It's possible the planet woke her with the knowledge of what has happened here recently, but made her think she was actually living another life and our world was a game..."

Tifa nodded, "That's why I would like her to meet Rufus."

Cloud nodded. "Her situation will be relatively easy to solve. The only real concern I have is Kadaj and his gang. What role do they play. More importantly, what are their plans, if they have any?"

Tifa nodded, "We better update the rest of the party, to minimize shock when everyone shows up." As the two men nodded and took out their phones she held up a cautionary hand, "However, don't you dare let leak the Ball is tomorrow to Cid and Yuffie..."

"Gotcha," Barret laughed.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, I'll admit it's damn hard to keep Kadaj and his brothers IC. But give me a break, I mean they had a life changing experience, their bound to evolve...<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie

Split Realities

"Morning," Cassie said groggily as she came into the bar followed by the three brothers.

Tifa smiled at her and handed her a cup of coffee, "Well it's after noon but morning. We have a busy day today, ready?"

"I guess..." the blonde said a little nervously. She glanced at Kadaj. She had gotten reamed almost all night about how their cover had been blown. He glared at her, he wasn't too happy about being stuck with Cloud, but he had agreed that playing nice for now would get them closer to their goal.

"Would you guys like some coffee?" Tifa asked curteously.

"No," Kadaj answered.

"I'll try some," Loz said, Yazoo nodding along side him. Tifa's eyebrow raised but she poured them both a cup.

Cassie looked curiously at them. She had noticed during her few days traveling with them that the two had grown more independent and free thinking. They still defered to Kadaj when big decisions were being made for the group, but they seemed to have grown their own minds aside from that.

At that moment Cloud walked in, followed by a tall man in red. He glanced at the quartet in the booth by the window but said nothing. The two men walked to Tifa who handed them coffee. "Hello, Vincent, I have your tux right here," She reached behind the bar and pulled out a suit. "Go try it on and make sure it fits."

Vincent got a disdainful look on his face as he held the tux up. "You're really going to make me where this?" Tifa only smiled. Vincent nodded and went off into the house addition.

"Well, one down two to go," Cloud said, "And it looks like they're here," he nodded towards the door as it burst open and in walked a young ninja and tall blonde man. "Yuffie, Cid, right on time."

Yuffie and Cid glanced around, instantly spotting the four in the booth. Yuffie's eyes widen and Cid thumbed his nose. "Well, Cloud, I almost didn't believe ya," Cid said in a country accent.

"We'll talk about that later," Tifa said, "Yuffie, Cid, we have your outfits for tonight, go try them on," she announced, handing a tux to Cid and the bagged dress to Yuffie.

"Ah hell!" was all Cid said.

"Wait! I thought we missed it..." Yuffie started, then cursed, "Man, you lied..."

"Come on," Tifa said, gesturing to the house addition as Vincent came out, tux draped over his arm. "Go see if they fit and no complaining." She turned to Vincent as the two sulked into action, "Did it fit?"

"Yes," he said shortly, picking his coffee back up. He turned so he was watching Kadaj.

Cassie, nervous, got up to get more coffee. ~He's more intimidating than I thought he'd be,~ she thought. "More coffee?" the brunette asked kindly.

"Yes please, if there's enough?" Cassie said, handing her cup to Tifa.

Tifa smiled, "Don't worry, we go through alot of coffee when the whole gang is here."

Vincent turned his attention to Cassie and studied her. "Hm, strange," he said after a moment.

"Huh?" Cassie asked nervously.

"You seem more nervous around us than you are around them," he said, indicating the three brothers.

"Well..." Cassie gave a sheepish grin, "No offense, but you're a little intimidating. As for Kadaj and them, they already said they won't kill me. And I really think they have changed." At this Kadaj snorted but made no other comment.

Vincent turned back around, "Hm... Only time will tell."

Cassie looked pleadingly at Tifa who only smiled and shrugged. They turned when Cid and Yuffie came back in.

"Damn infernal thing," Cid grumbled. At a glance from Tifa he shrugged, "It fits, but I still don't like it." Yuffie nodded.

"Well, tough," Cloud said, finishing his coffee. He looked at Tifa "I guess it's time for the guys to get out of here..." Tifa nodded. "All right, let's go."

* * *

><p>"So, you're really from another world?" Yuffie asked as Tifa applied her make up.<p>

"Yeah, strange as it sounds," Cassie replied, applying her own make up.

Yuffie tried to turn her face towards her but Tifa took a firm hold of her jaw, "What's it like?"

"Like here in most ways, can't get anywhere without money," she laughed. "Though where I lived there wasn't so much wild land. Everywhere is populated. And there aren't many people that would accept a complete stranger," she smiled her thanks at them. "There's no Lifestream, and no materia. Though there are people that practice magic but none that I've met that can go poof and create a fireball."

"No Materia!" Yuffie gasped, turning her face away.

Tifa sighed and turned her head back, "Yuffie you're making this harder than it is..." she warned.

"Tifa I don't wear make up!" Yuffie protested.

"Hey, where are the kids?" Cassie asked. "I haven't seen them all day."

"They went to their grandma's, Aerith's mother. They left while you were still asleep." Tifa said, finishing Yuffie's make up. "There, now time for the dresses."

* * *

><p>Later in the evening the men came back to the bar, all dressed in their tuxes. "I don't want to hear anymore complaining," Cloud was saying.<p>

Barret nodded, "If'n I hear any more grumbling Imma stick my fist down yer throat." He glared at Kadaj and Cid. Barret had joined them earlier after they had left the bar. He had been dropping the kids off at their grandma's.

"Tifa? Ya'll ready?" Cloud called into the house addition.

"Yes," Tifa said walking out. She was dressed in a long black gown with a modest slit in the side, her long hair tied up in a bun. She turned and motioned the other two to follow her.

Yuffie walked awkwardly in her high heels, constantly fidgeting in her forest green short dress. "I feel ridiculous," she muttered.

"I feel embarrased," Cassie said as she walked out, adjusting her neck line. She was dressed in a long dark blue dress that flared around her calves.

Tifa turned and studied the men, she went to Cloud and adjusted his tie. "You all look great."

"For a penguin," Cid muttered. Barret glared at him.

"Well our ride is here," Cloud said, offering his arm to Tifa. "Kadaj, you're paired with Cassie," he said as Vincent offered Yuffie his arm.

Kadaj's eyes widened then narrowed in suspicion as he caught the smile that passed from Tifa to Cloud. ~What do they think they're doing?~ he growled to himself as he mimicked Cloud and Vincent and offered his arm to Cassie. She gave him an embarrased grimace.

"All right, let's get this show on the road," Barret said, leading them outside.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie

Split Realities

"Yo, there's Cloud and the gang," a man with long red hair said. His companions turned to watch Cloud help Tifa out of the limo. They saw Cloud indicate to a young man with black hair to help out the next woman. "They seem to have a few new additions," Reno said. At this point Vincent pushed ahead of the young man and helped a petite blonde out of the car. Reno whistled. "She's a cutie."

His tall partner just glanced at him as he adjusted his tie. "Don't let Tifa hear you make that noise," Rude said.

"I'm more interested in her date," their blonde boss said, eyeing the black haired young man and the other two new additions to Cloud's group.

Reno turned to Rufus, "What do you mean?" he asked, loosening his tie.

"Well if you weren't so busy oogling the girl you might have noticed what we've noticed," Tseng said as his shorter partner, Elena, sighed and went to redo Reno's tie.

"Reno, if you undo this tie again I'll strangle you with it," Elena threatened, roughly tightening the tie till Reno coughed.

"Eh, take it easy would ya?" Reno exclaimed. He went to loosen it again but a glare from Elena stopped him. He turned back to the group they had been watching but it was too late, they were already inside. "What are ya'll talking about?"

"You'll see," Rufus said as he led their group inside. "And Reno, remember, you're on duty..."

Reno scratched his head, "Yes sir."

* * *

><p>Yuffie and Cassie were seated at the table with Barret, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz standing against the wall behind them. Cloud and Tifa were about to go on the stage for Cloud's speech. Cid and Vincent were standing off to the side in a private discussion. Cassie could tell from the glances they threw their way they were discussing her and the brothers.<p>

As Cloud stepped up to the podium a large applause went through the crowd. When it quieted down he began to speak. At that time Yuffie turned to her, "So... our world is really a game in your world?" she asked.

Cassie turned her attention to her, "Yeah, it first was just a game revolving around ya'lls quest to defeat Sephiroth," she explained. "But it was so popular that several years later they made a movie and three more games. The movie was ya'lls fight against Kadaj. The other games were Zack's story, a game about the Turks, and a game revolving around Vincent." She glanced over at the tall man and laughed, "Don't tell him this, but in the original game he, and you actually are optional characters. But you were so popular that when they made the sequels it was taken for granted that you were main characters."

Yuffie gave her an indignant snort, "Optional characters? I don't think so."

Cassie laughed, "Well, to ease your pride, I made sure to never have a game without you or Vincent. You were badass fighters."

Yuffie smiled, "We are."

"Yuffie, don't tell me you talked through Cloud's entire speech?" Tifa admonished, coming to sit down.

Yuffie and Cassie gave sheepish looks. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking... I just started talking," Cassie said apologetically.

"Hm, yeah but I bet Yuffie was the one that started it," Tifa gave the petite girl a shrewed glance. Yuffie just laughed and rubbed the back of her head. She turned back to Cassie, "Well, ready to meet Rufus Shinra?"

Cassie turned to see where the infamous president was sitting with his entourage. "Can't we see Nanaki first?" Cassie pleaded.

Tifa laughed and grabbed her hand, "Trust me, it won't be too bad, I'm just going to introduce you, and right now isn't the time to talk about that. We'll wait for when everyone is together privately." She pulled the reluctant girl to her feet and walked her over to Rufus' table.

The gentlemen stood up upon the arrival of the two women. "Good evening Tifa," Rufus said politely, taking Tifa's hand.

"Good evening. Rufus, I would like you to meet a friend of mine, Cassie," She stepped aside to allow Cassie in.

"Hello," Rufus took her hand and bent over it. ~Oh god, if he kisses it I might fall over...~ Cassie thought hysterically. But he didn't, instead he introduced his team, "Tseng and Elena,"

The tall man took her hand, "My pleasure," and stepped aside to allow Elena to shake her hand.

"And this is Rude and Reno," Rufus continued.

Rude took her hand nodding. Reno took her hand and kissed it, then winked at her, "Pleasure," he said. Cassie blushed profusely.

"H-hi, nice to meet you..." she stammered.

"Reno," Rufus said, "Why don't you take the young lady on the dance floor."

Reno smiled, "Sure," then he offered her his arm. Cassie took it, nervous because no one had as of yet told her how formal this Ball was. ~What kind of music will they play, hopefully nothing classical... I can't waltz...~ She was reassured when the music started playing, it sounded close to something she might hear in a club.

Tifa smiled as she watched Reno lead the young woman onto the floor. She turned back to Rufus, "We need to have a discussion later," she said.

Rufus nodded, "Yes, and hopefully you'll introduce us to the three peculiar young men that accompanied you?"

Tifa nodded, "Yes, we will."

"I'll have Rude let you know when we can have our discussion," Rufus said.

Tifa smiled her thanks then rejoined her group. She noticed Kadaj was staring intently at the dance floor, so was Barret and Cid, who had joined them while Vincent went to find Cloud and Nanaki.

As she sat down Cid gave her an incredulous look, "Why the hell did ya let that skirt chaser git ahold of her?"

Kadaj gave Cid a startled look, Barret laughed watching his reaction, "Yeah, Reno is a danger to all women..."

Kadaj turned his attention back to the dance floor, eyeing the red head suspiciously.

* * *

><p>"Here, let's rest a few minutes," Reno said as he led her off the dance floor to the refreshment table twenty minutes later.<p>

Cassie giggled, "That was fun," she panted. Someone in the crowd of dancers on the last song decided to start a dance off, almost everyone had had a turn to show off, including her and Reno.

"Yeah, here," Reno agreed, handing her a glass of champagne.

Cassie eyed it suspiciously but took it anyways, "Thanks, though I don't drink champagne..."

Reno laughed, "Down it fast and I'll show you a trick..." He immediately downed his glass then waited for her to do the same. She shrugged, and tipped her glass up, draining the contents. She put it down with a grimace. "Thata girl, now here," he pulled out a flask from inside his suit jacket. He filled both their glasses, then quickly hid the flask again. She took a sip to taste it, ~Tastes like vodka...~ She thought then shrugged and downed the shot. "Yo! Go easy on this stuff," Reno exclaimed with a laugh, then he shrugged too and followed her example.

He was refilling their glasses when Rude stepped up to him, clearing his throat. Reno turned, hiding the flask behind his back, "Yo Rude," he said quickly.

Rude held out his hand, "Hand it over..."

"Aw, come on man, just one more shot?" Reno pleaded.

Rude looked at Cassie, who had a pleading look on her face too. He finally nodded but held up one finger, "Just one, for her..." Reno sighed and turned back to her glass and finished pouring her shot. "Now, the president would like to talk to you," Rude told Reno, he turned to Cassie, "Excuse us."

Reno turned to her, "Well duty calls, hey maybe we can continue this later."

Cassie nodded taking her shot back to her table, humming a song to herself "Don't stop make it pop, dj blow my speakers up, tonight Imma fight till I see the sunlight..." she paused to down her shot.

"Well you're in a good mood now," Tifa said, smiling. "Did you have fun with Reno?"

"I did," Cassie said, smiling. Her cheeks were flushed. Tifa couldn't decide if it was due to her drink or the attention the charismatic red head was giving her.

Cid laughed, "Yeah I'm shure ya did. Did I see him slip ya a drink from his secret stash?" He took her glass and poured her a shot from a glass bottle he and Barret had been sharing. "Here darlin' try the real deal." He handed the glass back to her.

Cassie took the shot and downed it. She came up gasping, eyes wide, "Woah, moonshine, should have known!"

Barret and Cid guffawed while Tifa laughed, saying "Well, haven't heard that name but yeah, it's strong." Tifa laughed some more at Cassie's expression. "Now, I'd hold it right there, we need you somewhat coherent for when we meet Rufus and Nanaki."

"I'm fine, but I understand," Cassie nodded.

"Oh one more shot of this and you won't be," Barret said, still laughing.

Cassie raised her eyebrow, "I've been known to drink ex-boyfriends under the table, I think I could last another shot." She turned to Kadaj to find him glaring at her. "What?" He just glared some more then went back to his champagne. She turned around and found his brothers off to the side, watching the antics of the dancers, who were now showing off their acrobatics.

At that moment Rude stepped up to Tifa, "We're ready."

Tifa nodded and stood, catching Cloud's eye who was talking to a large red lion like creature across the room. He nodded and turned to get Yuffie, who was part of the acrobatic showdown. Cassie started to stand but Vincent, who appeared at her elbow gave her a hand. "You might need help..." She started to protest but thought better as she found that what ever Cid had given her had finally hit.

She laughed, "Well, maybe just a little, I don't usually drink sitting down, haha." Vincent rolled his eyes as he steadied her.

* * *

><p>"Well, have a seat ladies," Rufus said, indicating a few chairs in the confrence room he had snagged. He looked questioningly at Vincent as he helped the newest girl stagger into a chair. He turned to give an accusatory glare at Reno, who coughed and shrugged.<p>

"Thank you for meeting with us, we have two things to discuss," Cloud said.

The red lion, Nanaki, came to stand in front of Cassie, "Hello, we have not met yet but I have heard some very interesting things about you. I hear that you are looking for help in a very intriguing quest."

"Yeah, about that..." Cassie paused, terrified now to tell the people that could help her.

Tifa reached over and grabbed her hand reassuringly, "Go on..."

"Ok... to start with..." Cassie began. "I'm not from this world..." Rufus' eyewbrow rose at that. "In my world all of your adventures against Sephiroth, Jenova, Meteor, Deepground, Kadaj and his gang, well all of it is a compilation of video games and movies in my world... Last I knew of my world I was sick in the hospital, in a coma-like state, but I was aware. I was on life support. Finally my family decided to take me off life support, I had no control of my body to tell them not to." She got a haunted look in her eye and paused. After a few moments she shook herself and continued. "When I thought death would claim me finally I woke up in the Forgotten City."

"Where you met these three individuals," Rufus said, indicating Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz.

Cassie nodded. "At first I thought I had slipped into a dream or insanity on my death bed. That was over two weeks ago. I tried getting away from Kadaj and them, by talking them into letting me leave the Forgotten City. Yazoo took me to Bone Village, there I knew I'd need money to get any farther. The archeologist Micheal hired me for two weeks. At the end of my two weeks I tried to escape on the boat but Loz and Yazoo caught me and escorted me back to Kadaj." She shrugged. "I managed to convince him to let me go to Cosmo Canyon, but he insisted they come along too till they figured out why they were resurrected..." She paused and looked at Nanaki, "I remember in the game that Cosmo Canyon and your dad were lead scientists and philosophers for eccentric sciences and beliefs. I thought if I went there I could find someone that would help me. I at first had almost enough money to make it there without stopping, but with the addition of Kadaj and them I knew I had to stop in Edge and try to make some more money."

"And that's when you found us, right?" Tifa asked. Cassie nodded.

"Hm... I see," Rufus said politely.

Reno stared at the petite blonde. ~Holy shit...~ he thought, speechless.

As the silence continued Cassie started fidgeting nervously. When she thought she couldn't stand it any longer Rufus nodded. "We'll, I will need to think on this matter and decide what kind of help we can offer." He smiled at her, "Don't worry, stranger things have happened."

Tifa laughed, "That's what I said." She turned to Cassie, "Hey we have some more to discuss, but your part is done, why don't you go out and have some fun?" Cassie nodded and tried to stand.

"Reno, escort the young lady, keep her company." Rufus glared at his subordinate, "And see if you can help her sober up..."

Reno gave a sheepish grin, "Yes sir." He went and helped Cassie stand up. Once standing she found she could pretty much walk on her own, but he stayed close to her elbow the entire way out of the conference room.

After the door closed Rufus turned to Cloud and Tifa. "Is there a possibility of Mako Poisoning?" he asked, straight to the point.

Cloud shrugged, "She has been staying with us for the last two days, Tifa has kept an eye on her."

Tifa shook her head, "As far as I can tell the only possible signs of mako poisoning are her eyes."

Rufus nodded, "Yes, I noticed how unnaturally blue they are, however it is not rare for someone to have eyes that bright. Are there any other signs?"

Tifa shook her head. "No," she turned to Kadaj. "You lot have been with her the longest. Noticed anything, like difficulty remembering things of her past, disorientation? Anything?" Kadaj shook his head.

"Well, we've talked about it amongst ourselves, and we've all agreed that it's one of a few possibilities." Cloud stated. "Mako Poisoning; she's an Ancient that the planet awoke for some unkown reason, or she's telling the truth."

Rufus nodded, "True, or it could be that she is really insane, either she had a mental breakdown due to stress or she was in an accident and it left her with this idea she's from another world." Rufus thought for a few seconds. "Alright, I'll do what I can." He turned to Kadaj, "Now, about you...?"

Kadaj said nothing. Cloud spoke up, "Well, she said they have changed. From what she's said, they were resurrected at the same time she woke up." Cloud studied the trio, "So far they have been behaving, but they've been mostly quiet."

"Well, is it true?" Rufus asked Kadaj. "Have you turned over a new leaf after your time in the Lifestream?"

Kadaj looked away, "You could say someone is giving us a second chance."

Rufus raised his eyebrow and glanced at Cloud, who had the same thought on his face. ~Second chance for what?~

* * *

><p>"Hey," Reno said, trying to cheer up the blonde girl sitting next to him. She had been quiet the last few minutes since they left the conference room. She looked at him. "Let's go dance," he nodded to the dance floor.<p>

She thought about it but instead of saying yes she said, "Do you think I'm insane?"

Reno studied her then shrugged and smiled, "I'm not the best one to decide if someone's insane or not. Most people think I'm crazy out the ass." He stood and grabbed her hand, "Yo, let's dance, it'll make you feel good and sober you up." With that he took her to the dance floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie

Split Realities

"Well, thank you," Cassie told Reno as her group waited for the rented limo. "I had a great time."

Reno shrugged, "It was nothin'." He looked to his party who were now getting in the company limo. "I guess I gotta split." He looked back at her as she accepted Cid's help into the limo. "Yo, why don't I take you out tomorrow night?"

Cid glared at him as Cassie smiled, "Sure, that'd be fun, if it's alright with Cloud and Tifa..."

Tifa smiled at him while Cloud gave him a suspicious look. "I think that would be fun, we could all use a little fun sometimes," she said. Cassie grinned at her as she slid onto the seat.

"So, nine good for you?" Reno asked.

Cassie peeked out as Tifa was helped into the car, "Yeah, nine sounds good. See ya then."

Cloud closed the car door and watched as a the other men got into the limo. He turned to Reno, "What game are you playing at?"

Reno shrugged and put his hands behind his head, "No game. Just being friendly."

Cloud snorted, "Yeah, well don't get too friendly, or you may have a former psycho going for your throat."

Reno laughed, "Yeah, well all's fair in love and war..." He started to walk to his limo.

Cloud called after him, "Yeah well that one doesn't play fair." Reno just waved it off.

Cloud shook his head as he got into the car.

* * *

><p>"We're leaving tonight," Kadaj was saying as they lay in the room Tifa and Cloud were letting them stay in.<p>

"No, we're close to finding out what happened to us, I thought that was the whole reason we came here right?" Cassie whispered hotly. "If you want to leave then go ahead, but I'm staying."

"Why, so that skirt chaser can woo you off your feet?" Kadaj whispered just as intently.

"What does Reno have to do with anything?" she asked, outraged.

"You're coming with us, I'm not letting you out of my sight; I said this once before and my mind hasn't changed." Kadaj ordered.

"Oh, really, like Cloud is doing to you. Tell me, how does it feel?" she asked sarcastically. "You know he's probably got someone guarding against your escape anyways."

They glared in silence for a few minutes.

Yazoo, who was standing at the window, nodded. "Vincent's outside."

Loz agreed, as he peaked out the door, "I hear voices in the bar."

"See, told ya," she said triumphantly.

Kadaj only glared in response. ~A chance will come up soon,~ he thought. ~Then we'll leave.~ He was ashamed to admit, but since their resurrection the awesome strength and endurance they once had, had diminished, he was no stronger than say Cloud. Less even, and as it stood he knew they couldn't force their way out. So they would have to bide their time and wait for an opening.

* * *

><p>"Reeve said he would like to meet them," Tifa said. Once again her, Cloud and Barret were staying up late, along with Cid, discussing their guests' situation.<p>

"Where was that suit tonight," Cid asked, puffing on his cigarette.

"He had some business to attend to. He was there long enough to make an appearance but that was it," Cloud explained.

"So Rufus and Reeve gonna check the old Shinra files?" Barret asked.

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, Gast and Hojo had alot of research concerning the Cetra civilization. I'm sure from those files we'll find a way to determing if she is one or not."

"And Nanaki already took an air ship back to Cosmo Canyon to see if his father or any of the scientist there have heard of people being resurrected from the Lifestream. We're to head over there in about a week, but first Cloud and I have to get everything set up here for when were gone" Tifa said.

"You sure you can handle Kadaj on your own Spikey?" Barret asked. "I can't go, we're starting up a new drilling site and I gotta be there."

"Yeah, I've got too many shipments to take off," Cid agreed.

Cloud nodded, "Vincent and Yuffie will be with us, and if I'm not mistaken Rufus hinted at sending someone with us as back up."

"Good lord I hope it ain't that punk Reno," Cid said, "He ain't nothing but trouble when it comes to women, and he already has his sights on that poor girl."

Tifa shrugged, "I'm sure Cassie can take care of herself, but I'll keep an eye on her."

Cid nodded as he snuffed his cigarette.

* * *

><p>Reno was in a thoroughly good mood the next morning, despite the seriousness of the discussion he and his fellow Turks were having. He glanced at the clock, ~Twelve hours to go,~ he thought.<p>

"Reno!" Tseng said sharply, calling his attention back to their discussion.

"Yes sir?" Reno said, sitting straighter.

"As I was saying this is a very delicate mission," Tseng was saying. "Both in regards to the girl and to Kadaj and his gang." He held up one finger, "First and fore most, you must not let Ms. Cassie suspect that we believe she is suffering from Mako Poisoning. She is compliant with us and Cloud because she thinks we believe her. At the first sign that she thinks we don't, I'm positive she will leave with Kadaj. Secondly, you must help Cloud keep an eye on Kadaj, we are still unsure as to their motives, however they seem intent on keeping Cassie safe and alive." He sighed, "We might not be sure of their motives but we would also like to keep them close and under watch at all time. They can't get into much trouble that way, as opposed to letting them run off and start making trouble out of sight." He turned to Reno, "As for you, if assigned this mission you must remember you are on the clock, no dilly dallying. Both Rufus and I would prefer it if you canceled your date for tonight, but seeing as you've already gained her trust canceling might possibly clue her in to our distrust of her story and condition."

Reno shrugged. He knew his bosses didn't like that he was interested in the strange girl, but he didn't care. ~What I do off the clock is my business,~ he thought, stubbornly.

"Now, we all know the signs of Mako Poisoning?" Tseng was asking.

Elena spoke up, "Bright eyes, hazy vision, difficulty remembering, or fuzzy memory. Usually the victim is in a catatonic state however there have been cases of an alert individual suffering from Mako Poisoning."

Tseng nodded, "Most notably Cloud. However in his situation he was mostly over the worst of the symptoms, when he came out of the catatonia, he had confused his real past with the past of his friend Zack. So it is possible that she had had Mako Poisoning awhile back and, like Cloud, has imagined a strange past for herself and has no memory of her true past." He paused and looked at each of his Turks. "Now, here is the second part of your mission. Be on the look out for signs of missing persons; if she is suffering from this, then there is bound to be someone looking for her. Rufus and I, along with Reeve will be searching various missing persons databases here, along with going through the files on the Cetra."

Rude looked at Tseng, "I thought Aerith was the last Ancient?"

Tseng nodded, "Yes, the last documented Ancient along with her mother, however we have no documentation on her grandparents. It is possible that they, or some other Ancients were alive long enough to have decendants, whether pureblood or mixed." He sighed, "However, we are hoping that isn't the case here. For if she is an Ancient, and she was 'woken' up in the Forgotten City with Kadaj and his brothers, it means that the Planet feels an immense threat approaching..."

He walked over to the large window in the office, thinking. Finally he said, "I believe the reawakeing of an Ancient is the Planet's last resort. During the fight against Sephiroth the Planet awakened the WEAPONs, however, most of them were destroyed by Cloud's gang and Shinra..." He turned back to his subordinates. "This leads me to the third part of the mission... Should it happen that she is an Ancient, you're priority is to figure out what threat is endangering the Planet and what, if anything, can be done about it." He looked directly into each of their eyes then nodded. "Understood? Then you're dismissed."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own ffvii. I own Cassie

AN: Yes, the infamous authors note. Just wanted to say so happy for the views, bear with me I just started a new job, and about to get kicked out too. My goal is to have this up and out by Christmas only prob, is I'm writing by the seat of my pants... eh I have the next few scenes/chaps thought out but... I really don't know how I'll end this so far we have three no Rufus stated four, possible endings, so you don't know what they'll be cuz I DONT either lmao I don't even know the pairings, if there are any lol, just something ive been imagining, I'd make it a true self insert but I just can't quite do that lol, since there's a possibility Cassie is actually from Gaia and just imagined our world. We'll see. Oh and I was rereading my Star ocean story and realized I called that oc Cassandra, what can I say, my stories come from my imagination where I'm the central character. I'm glad I used Angela for my main oc in WA and BA, do you know how close ya'll were to having some variation on my name lol. Also, I know I'm missing the girl from DOC but, I haven't played that game, or the two prequels either, that's why this is labeled as a fanfic from the movie. Enough chitchat, lets get the show on the road...

Split Realities

"So, do you have anything to wear for your date?" Tifa asked, then smiled at Cassie's blush. She was cleaning the bar and Cassie was doing the dishes.

Cassie scratched her ear, "Well... not really..."

"Well, as soon as we're done here I think I have a few things that might fit you," Tifa suggested.

"Thank you," Cassie said bashfully.

They worked in silence for a few minutes then Tifa asked, "So do you think Kadaj has really changed. I've noticed the difference in Loz and Yazoo, but not so much in Kadaj..."

Cassie tilted her head, "Well, honestly, he doesn't act totally crazy, in fact I often see him get a look in his eyes, like he's unsure of what he thinks. As for Loz and Yazoo, they seem more..." She laughed, "This is going to sound rude but they act more, like their physical ages, instead of the toddlers they acted like in the movie."

Tifa nodded, "I agree, though they were strong toddlers..." She turned and shared a look with Cassie then they started giggling. Both had images in their heads of Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz with pacifiers and diapers.

After they had calmed down Tifa contiued her questions, "Well, you say you know the fight against them... Weren't you scared of them? Why did you stay with them?"

Cassie shrugged, "I was scared of them, and I don't really know why I stayed with them. In fact, I had the plan to come to ya'll from the beginning and get your help to get away from them..."

Tifa paused and looked at her, "But...?"

Cassie sighed, "But, I started having doubts at Bone Village. You know it was my idea to change their clothes and hair. And when Kadaj saw his hair color and got pissed he controled his anger by saying something witty..." At Tifa's questioning glance she continued, "Loz had reminded him that he had ordered them not to kill me and Kadaj smarted off that he was rethinking the idea. I know," she said at the other woman's startled glance, "It sounded threatening but the next part is what got me, though he'll deny it. He got this look on his face like 'Did that just sound as stupid as I think it did' and then he got a small grin on his face. Loz and Yazoo were already slightly grinning at the insane comment." She shrugged, "Then, on the boat ride, the three often joked at my expense about being sick on the boat... One of the things I do know about good sane people, they're okay with a laugh. And these three, their laugh wasn't maniacal, it was... like a baby learning to laugh for the first time, they made the noise then got a surprised look on their face..."

Tifa tilted her chin and nodded, "And that's why you defended them when Cloud cornered them, isn't it?"

Cassie nodded, "Yeah."

Tifa thought for a few minutes then said, "Hm, just maybe..."

Cassie went back to her dishes, "Hey, everyone deserves a second chance..."

Tifa looked sharply at her, "Did Kadaj say that?"

Cassie turned, "Nah, he didn't... why?"

Tifa shook her head, "Its... nothing, nevermind."

After their chores were done Tifa took Cassie by the shoulders, "Word of advice for tonight... Unless you want to pass out on Reno... Don't take anything Barret and Cid order you." She smiled at the girl. "They're intent to show you you can't out drink them."

Cassie laughed, "We'll it'd still be funny to try."

Tifa laughed, "Funny for who?"

* * *

><p>"Tifa, let me know where ya'll are going," Cloud said around nine. "Reeve is wanting to talk to Kadaj and his brothers. So we'll catch up later."<p>

Tifa nodded, "Will do."

Cloud herded the three young men out the door. He was on his way out when Reno popped up. "Wow, you're on time and out of your suit."

Reno shrugged and brushed the rain off is buttoned up shirt and jeans, "Yeah, well, I'm off duty. What you think all I have to wear is the Turks uniforms?" he asked sarcastically.

Cloud shrugged, "Actually, I thought you only had one and that you slept in it."

Reno laughed, "Sometimes that happens." He started inside but Cloud held him back.

"Reno, word of advice. Don't break her heart. Tifa has become quite fond of her..." he said quietly, glaring at the red head. Reno only smiled and nodded. Cloud just shook his head and went his way.

"Hi Reno," Tifa said, turning away from him to go into the house, "She'll be out in a second."

Tifa returned shortly with Cassie. Reno just stared, then laughed, "Well, that makes my job easier, judging from the looks of you two were going to the club. Club Risk."

Tifa laughed, she had dressed in a mini skirt and blue silk blouse. It wasn't for Reno's benifit, it had been awhile since she and Cloud had had a date. She turned to Cassie, appraising her work. She had a long grey shirt that was just as nice as a dress on it's own, but to make it harder for Reno she had paired it with black skinny jeans. "Well, that's where we thought you'd take her, you two seemed to be having fun dancing at the Ball," she said in explanation.

As the group walked out Tifa quickly texted Cloud and Barret their destination.

* * *

><p>"Wow, this place is hopping," Cassie said, as they walked into the club. The dance floor was packed and most of the tables were taken but she saw an empty booth and a few empty seats at the bar.<p>

"Hey, it's a great place," Reno said as he steered them to the booth.

"It looks like they remodeled," Tifa said as she sat down.

Reno nodded as he helped Cassie sit down, "Yeah, there was a huge fight here a few months ago and alot of property damage."

Cassie gazed around, "It's been awhile since I've been to a club. I'm surprised they didn't id me..."

Reno shrugged, "You're with me, so they think you're old enough." He got up, "Yo, let me get some drinks for us."

Cassie gave him a peculiar look as he left, "Well, that comment didn't sound reassuring..."

Tifa laughed, "What?"

Cassie grinned at her, "It makes me wonder how many girls he's brought here..." She laughed, "Kadaj called him a skirt chaser."

"And that's what he is," Cid twanged as he and Barret slid into the booth.

Cassie gave them a questioning glance, "You two don't strike me as club goers..."

"We ain't," Barret said gruffly. "But we decided to come to make sure that fool doesn't try anything."

Cassie grinned evilly, "I'm far past the age to be protected from guys."

"That reminds me," Tifa said, "How old are you?"

Cassie shrugged as she saw Reno coming back to the table, drinks in hand. "Twenty-six." She rolled her eyes at Tifa's surprise. "I know I don't look it."

Reno came and sat a tall pink drink in front of Tifa and Cassie then sat down with a beer. "Now this you don't chug," he said jokingly as Cassie took a drink. She laughed in response.

* * *

><p>"Well..." a tall man in a dark suit was saying, scratching his thin beared. "If their answering truthfully, they seem pretty normal, as sane as you and me," he gestured to himself and Cloud.<p>

Cloud got a thoughtful look on his face. After Tifa had told him and Reeve what Cassie said, Reeve had asked Cloud to bring the three men in for questioning. Reeve had a special technique of questions, taken from the old Shinra company, to determine an individual's mental health and true motives. He turned back to Reeve, "So you think it's possible, that they've really changed for the better as Cassie says?"

Reeve shrugged, "Well the test says so, and honestly Cloud, it's hard to lie consistently with this test. It's designed to purposefully trip up liers." He shrugged again, "But we won't know for sure unless we give them a chance to prove it."

Cloud nodded, "Understood, but... I don't quite trust them enough to let them run around on their own."

Reeve nodded in turn, "I understand, and I agree with you." They turned to go back into the small room the brothers were in. "By the way, I'd like to meet Cassie tomorrow if at all possible."

"I'll make sure Tifa brings her," Cloud said as he gestured to Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz that it was time to go. "She seems more comfortable with her."

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the club Cloud noticed immediately Kadaj's eyes searching for Cassie. When Kadaj spotted her on the dance floor with Reno he glared.<p>

Tifa waived them over to their booth as they got closer she smiled, "Well that took awhile." It was now eleven.

Cloud shrugged, "Well, you know Reeve, he likes to talk alot."

"More like interrogate," Kadaj said waspishly, never taking his eyes off the couple on the dance floor.

"That looks like fun," Yazoo said, Loz nodding.

Barret and Cid were watching Kadaj, then they looked at each other and grinned. Cid turned to the couple on the dance floor and said, "Yep, flagrant skirt chaser..."

Barret nodded, "I give him five more minutes, then he'll come waltzing over here saying they're going someplace quiet."

Cid nodded, "Yep, more likely his place, or should I say bed..." At this comment the two older men tried hard to keep from turning to Kadaj to see if he reacted.

He did, he turned a shocked gaze at Cid and Barret then turned back to the dance floor, his glare more intense. Cloud put his hand to his mouth to muffle his laugh while Tifa didn't bother hiding her laugh. She looked at Kadaj, watching him fidget, ~He probably has no idea what he's feeling right now...~

At that moment Reno and Cassie came to the booth. Cassie quickly finished her fifth drink while Reno downed the rest of his ninth beer. When he put the empty bottle down he turned to Cloud and Tifa, "Yo, sorry guys but we're gonna bail and find some place quiet." At Cloud's glare he held up his hands, "I swear we're just gonna talk!"

Tifa shoved Cloud in the shoulder then turned to Cassie, "Well, we'll see you later, be safe and have fun," she said, smiling knowingly.

Cassie smiled and waived as Reno led her out of the club.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any of it's characters. I own Cassie

Split Realities

Tifa walked down the hall to check on the kids. They hadn't been too happy that they had been stuck with a babysitter tonight. They were especially unhappy to hear that the grown ups would be going on an adventure without them soon. Tifa assured them they would stay long enough for the kids to get out of school for the season. They had only a week left. Then the kids could spend a few weeks with their grandmother, who spoiled them rotten. They perked up a bit hearing this, but they still were sulking when the adults left for the evening.

Assured they were sleeping tight she went into the bar portion. She was pretty sure Cassie might come in early. Sure enough Tifa had just enough time to brew a small batch of decaffinated coffee when the girl walked in quietly, a sour look on her face.

Tifa poured her a small cup and brought it to her as she sat down, "Didn't go as planned?" she asked, smiling.

Cassie shook her head, taking a sip, "No, he put in a movie, and we cuddled close. Next thing I know he's snoring..." She rolled her eyes.

Tifa laughed and shrugged, "Well, his loss. Oh he'll never live that down."

Cassie smiled, "Right?"

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. After a bit Tifa asked, "Hey, what are your plans after we figure all this out?" She looked at her in concern, "Have you thought about what it will mean for you if you're not crazy? Or even if you are, but not the way you think you are? What if it's this other world you imagined?"

Cassie sipped her coffee a bit, quiet in thought. Finally she looked at the other woman, "I really don't know, I mean, I understand where you're coming from. The only plan I have is that if my world is real, and I'm not insane, I'd like a way to at least, you know, check on everyone. If in fact it is that I'm insane, or even that my world was all in my head... All I have to say is I have one fucked up imagination." At this last part, her eyes clouded over with intense emotion.

Tifa didn't say anything even though she wanted to know what secret hurts this young girl was carrying, however she knew from that look in her eye that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

After a few minutes Cassie sighed, "As for what I'll do afterwards if that's the case, I guess go talk to a shrink or something, get help, figure out if I have family here, actually have a place where I belong and go from there."

Tifa nodded then grasped her hand comfortingly, "Regardless you have a place here. Just know that."

Cassie smiled her thanks. She finished her coffee then stood, Tifa following her. "Well, I guess it's time to get some sleep."

Tifa nodded as they walked to the kitchenette in the bar and sat her coffee cup in the sink, "Yeah, and you have a meeting with Reeve tomorrow. Don't worry we'll go see him in the afternoon."

* * *

><p>The next morning Cassie woke up early. She tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. ~Might as well get a shower, that is if Cloud and Tifa are up...~ She quietly got up off the couch and snuck to her pack filled with her spare clothes and underthings. Cloud had done his best to room the four of them but the only room he had to spare was a rather large living room turned office. He had delegated the couch as her bed and forced the three men to bed down on pallets on the floor. She tiptoed around the three of them, hoping not to wake them, especially Kadaj. Judging from the glare she had gotten last night from him when she left with Reno she was sure she'd get an earful shortly. Judging from her headache she'd just as soon delay it as long as possible.<p>

However luck was not on her side; Kadaj was already awake, but had kept his eyes closed. "So, did you sleep with him?" he asked quietly.

Cassie didn't even turn as she made her way to the bathroom, "That's really none of your concern," was all she said. She paused at the bathroom door and listened, then nodded to herself. She could hear Cloud, Barret and Tifa in the bar, talking. She went into the bathroom.

After her shower, she was in the middle of drying off when she heard a weird noise coming from the window. Wrapping the towel around her she went and peeked through the curtains. At first she didn't understand what she was seeing. From the bar she heard a shout but ignored it as she opened the curtains wider. She stared at a very large spider, as big as a man, staring at her through the window. Then she started screaming as she backed away, opening the door behind her then she ran into the living room, still screaming. Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz were all up reaching for their weapons as Cassie made a mad dash to Kadaj and ducked behind him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt, screaming incoherently about the spider and pointing to the bathroom.

Tifa came running in, yanking the kids by the arm and slamming close their door, her door to her room and the door to the bathroom. "Are you alright?" she asked as she indicated to the three men to either take a position by the one window in the room or to go help Cloud in the bar. When Cassie didn't respond but began crying Tifa urged the two children to sit on the couch as she grabbed up Cassie's blanket and wrapped it around the shaking girl, disentangling her from Kadaj, who immediately went to the bar to help Yazoo and Cloud. She looked the terrified girl over and found no signs of injury then hugged her to herself and guided her to the couch. "Shh, the boys are fortifying the bar, they won't get in here."

"Yeah, we're safe," Denzel said bravely, though in fact he was just as scared as Cassie. Marlene was shaking but took Cassie's hand.

At her small touch Cassie slowly stopped shaking. She forced herself to take a calming breath. She knew she was freaking the kids out, but she always freaked out whenever she saw a large spider, and what she had seen in the bathroom was enough to scare several years off her life.

Tifa turned to Loz, who was guarding the window, "Loz, we've got a card table in the closet and nails and screw driver, We can probably cover that window with the table." She got up and walked to the closet and pulled out the supplies. The two of them went quickly to work covering the window.

Cloud came down the hall and appraised their work with a nod, "We've done the same thing in the bar, we left the door uncovered but locked it so we can look out," he explained. He lifted his phone, which despite it ringing constantly the last fifteen minutes he had only answered it once, "Reeve called to say they're all over Edge. Not many people can get out of their homes. Luckily for us Cid was camping in his ship. He's going to pick up some heavy duty insecticide, the stuff they use on the field, then he'll come back and dump it over the town, just enough to drive these spiders away."

Finished with their work Tifa turned to him. "So they're just overgrown ordinary spiders?" she asked, disbelieving.

Cloud nodded, "Apparently Reeve knew about them, but didn't think their was a whole lot of them. one of his WRO soldiers found one just outside of town the day we were fighting the cockatrices. His lab examined it and found that somehow it mutated after being saturated with Mako from five years ago, at least that's what they think. Reeve said it's also possible one of the Mako reactors has a slow leak and it leaked onto this colony of spiders."

"I thought all the Mako reactors were shut down after Meteor," Marlene said.

Tifa nodded, "They were, but remember, they still had unused Mako held within them. One of the things Reeve and Shinra are working on is to figure out what should be done about what's left in them."

Cloud turned to Cassie, "How big can you make your shield?" At Cassie's questioning glance he explained. "Can you make it large enough to engulf the bar and this room?"

"I-I can try," Cassie stuttered through her fear. "If I place one dagger in here and the other in the bar it might work..."

Cloud nodded then took in her appearance, "Are all your clothes in the bathroom?" he started to turn to the bathroom but a crash from there told him not to bother.

As Cassie tried to ignore the noise and what it meant she gathered her daggers. Tifa rummaged in the closet till she found a sack of some of her old clothes she had been meaning to get rid of. She drew out some shorts and a t-shirt. She handed them to the still shaking girl and turned the light on in the closet, "Here, step in there and change."

After Cassie had changed she stuck a dagger in the wall, pushing her will into it to activate the spell. Then she turned and walked cautiously into the bar and placed the other dagger in the far wall, again focusing to activate the spell. She sighed in relief when she saw the sparkle of the sheild melding with the wall. ~It worked!~ She thought. She had purposefully imagined the shield taking the shape of the bar, hallway and living room.

Cloud walked the perimiter of the shield, when he came back to her he nodded, "Good, it worked. Thanks. We should be safe now. All we have to do now is wait..."

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later everyone was in the bar, eating a small breakfast and drinking coffee. Cassie and the two children kept their minds off of what was happening outside by playing Cassie's game. All of a sudden the bar phone rang. Cloud answered it. "Hello...What are you doing calling here... No I will not play messenger boy for you... No... You can talk to her yourself..." he motioned for Cassie. "It's for you."<p>

Cassie gave him a questioning glance as she answered it, "Hello?"

"Yo sweetheart!" Reno said cheerily. Cassie heard someone in the back ground yell at him. When he talked again it was in a whisper, "So... about last night... It was great..."

Cassie gave an exasperated sigh, "Yeah, so great your were snoozing before the movie got half way through!" she snapped.

She heard a thud as Reno stuttered, "No, no I distinctly remember we-"

"We what? That we had sex? No, we didn't!" she said angrily, her voice raising. "You might have dreamed it! But the sad truth is Reno, you fell asleep on me! Let me tell you how much of a turn off that is! Goodbye!" She hung the phone up. Then glared at her audience. Tifa was laughing, Cloud was trying to hide his smile while Barret guffawed out right. Yazoo and Loz both had eyebrows raised then looked at each other while Kadaj stared open mouthed. The children just decided to ignore the whole thing, they were busily deciding how to cover her open double.

* * *

><p>Reno gaped at the phone in his hand. He heard a small laugh and turned to see Rude adjusting his tie and gazing through an opening in the hastily boarded up windows in the director's office. "You didn't hear that?" he asked, mortified.<p>

"Ahem," Rude coughed. After a few seconds he looked at Reno and grinned apologetically, "Sounds like you're in the dog house."

Reno hung up the phone then picked it up again, starting to dial the bar's number, "I gotta fix this, I can fix this..."

"Reno!" Tseng said sharply as he walked in, "You're not using the office phone and company time for your own personal reasons, are you?"

Reno gulped and put the phone down, "No sir..."

* * *

><p>AN: Haha, I hope you actually didn't believe I'd make that possible pairing that easy now did you? We got along way to go and there's so many possibilites with this story... Now wouldn't it be a shocker that instead of Kadaj or Reno Cassie pairs up with say... Vincent? Hm... who knows...<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any of it's characters. I own Cassie

AN: So, I'mma try to get this moving faster, Usually by chapter twelve I have at least outlined the main storyline and have introduced a bad guy by now. I want this done in under 25 chapters. Oh, and please, I hope I explain a bit in this chap why Kadaj and his brothers are a little ooc compared to the movie...

Split Realities

_"Droppin' the load right now, should have ya'll out of trouble in a jiffy,"_ Cid said over the ship loudspeakers.

"Bout damn time," Barret said as a heavy powder started to fall outside. Cloud and Barret watched as the large spiders reacted instantly, scuttling in every direction to get away from the insecticide.

_"Hey, it's workin'! They're heading out of town!"_ Cid commented.

Tifa and Cassie sighed in relief as the children cheered. Cassie walked to her dagger in the wall but Cloud stopped her with a shake of his head. "Not yet, wait till they're all out of town."

* * *

><p>An hour later all of the spiders were either gone or dead. WRO military dressed in biohazard suits went to work immediately with water hoses to clean the city of the poison and collect the spider corpses. As each street was cleared more people came out to investigate the damage. Tifa and Cassie took the children outside while the men dealt with taking the boards off the doors and windows.<p>

"You think Reeve still wants to meet me?" Cassie asked.

Tifa shrugged, "I'm sure he'll want to wait till tomorrow. He's gonna have alot of paperwork for right now." She looked at the children, who stared around them. She was proud of them, even though the spider invasion lasted all day they had not complained once. However, they did play games all day when they should have been studying. "Well, you two, I guess you can forget your bath for tonight, but it is a school night." She paused and put a hand to her chin, "In fact, you were supposed to have school today... But I guess this means you'll have alot more homework tomorrow night." At the children's whines Tifa smiled. "Well, I'll make a deal with you, do your homework tomorrow as soon as you get home and we all can play a game again. Deal?"

"Deal!" Denzel and Marlene said together.

Tifa gestured for everyone to go inside. "Let's make some dinner."

* * *

><p>Kadaj stayed awake late into the night thinking. He just couldn't figure out what he was feeling. Ever since he had been resurrected he felt like he had lost control of his mind. Especially where Cassie was concerned. Since the night of the Ball, when the red headed fool started hitting on her, he had found himself harboring fealings of...~Feelings of what? Ownership? Jealosy?~ Kadaj shook his head at this thought. Ownership he could understand. But jealosy? Jealosy meant he had feelings towards the girl other than the feelings of aggravation she tended to cause. But how could he explain the intense anger and hatred towards Reno when he took her home from the club the other night. Or his sudden sense of relief when she revealed that they in fact did nothing last night.<p>

Kadaj was definately bothered by these emotions. Before he died the only emotion he had was intense devotion to Mother and her Plan. No other emotions affected him, least of all the emotion of uncertainty and uneasiness. Of which he had been experiencing alot of lately. It was enough to drive him crazy. ~How can people live with these emotions constantly over running them,~ he thought, exasperated.

What irritated him more than these rampant emotions were the knowing and sly smiles he saw constantly on his captors faces. More over, he was starting to get those same smiles from his brothers, who used to be so subservient to him. Tifa and Cloud weren't the only ones to notice how Yazoo and Loz seemed to be becoming independent, Kadaj had noticed too. However he knew or at least hoped that when he gave the word the two would follow him.

He rolled over, exhausted from contemplating his frustrations. ~As soon as we're in the open we're out of here,~ he thought as he finally drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>"I see," Reeve said, steepling his fingers in front of his mouth. As Tifa said he had decided to see Cassie the next day. He had started the meeting off by asking her several questions about her life, her opinions, her experiences and other things. Cassie noticed the questioning for what it was, she had experienced something of a similar nature when she'd apply for various jobs. After the questions he had asked her to explain in detail how she came to be here and what exactly her plans were. She had just got done telling him her hope to find out if she really did crossover to this world after her inevitable death in her world or if she had just slipped into insanity the last few seconds she had in life. And if the former, her plans to find some way to check on her loved ones. After a few minutes he nodded, "Well, I can tell that there's something you're hiding," At Cassie's guilty and ashamed expression he sighed. "But I have a feeling that it's something you'd rather not talk about right now, or at least to me, as opposed to being something you're lying about. From what I've heard and from having met you I agree, that you're not the type to lie."<p>

He paused and tapped his fingers on his desk, then looked at her. "I can't say for sure right now that you're insane, and one of the possibilites that you didn't say directly but I presume you understand is there, is that you're from this world and just imagined your life in this other world. Now I'm no expert on this subject, and I'm sure the best option would be to send you to an expert to decide, however, I don't find you as a threat to yourself or others. And in fact believe that traveling to find your answers might just be the right way to decide if you are insane or not." He noticed the dark look Cassie gave her tightly held hands when he declared her as not a threat to herself, but decided not to say anything about it. "Who knows, it might be that you are entirely right and are in fact from another world, and I agree the best people to go to to find out would be the scientists in Cosmo Canyon." He looked to Tifa. "By the way, it won't be a direct route there. I've already informed Cloud. I'd like your group to visit towns on your trip to investigate. We've been getting reports all over the continent, including some from the Western Continent, of strange occurances similar to that flock of cockatrices the other day."

Tifa nodded, "Cloud mentioned it."

He looked back at Cassie, "Well young lady. Both Rufus and I will try to find some of your answers here. But more than likely you're going to find your answers out there."

Cassie nodded as she and Tifa got up to leave. "Thank you," she said quietly.

* * *

><p>As Tifa and Cassie walked back to the bar Tifa asked the girl what had been on her mind, "So, I have a question, and it's a bit personal..." At Cassie's look of permission she continued, "Do you like Reno? I mean more than because he was paying attention to you... Could you see yourself actually dating him long term?"<p>

Cassie shrugged, "Actually, I don't do well with relationships. Either I push the perfect guy away, or I end up with a sleaze bag and that never ends well." They walked on in silence. "My best friend usually says that its because I need to learn to love myself first before someone else can love me, but..."

Tifa waited, after a few seconds she asked, "But what?"

Cassie shook her head, "It's nothing..."

Tifa just nodded, but she saw again the dark haunted look in the young girl's eyes.~I hope one day she opens up to me,~ she thought, sad.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days things were normal for the group. At least as normal as it got for them. Reno tried several times to call to appologize to Cassie but Cloud, having been asked by Cassie, intervened in his efforts and would only tell him she was out and that he still refused to be Reno's messenger boy. Cloud for his part, kept a strict eye on Kadaj, going as far as to bring him along on the multitude of assignments he got in town. He wasn't too worried about Yazoo and Loz, who on their own, had taken to being errand boys for Tifa. Cassie would on occasion help Cloud and Kadaj, but usually stayed behind to help Tifa run the bar and answer phones for Cloud's business. On the fourth day out Barret told the group he was heading out. He had already said his goodbyes to the kids before they went to school.<p>

"Well, Spikey," Barret was saying as he clapped the blonde man on the shoulder. "I'm outta here. You guys take care huh," he said to Tifa and Cassie. He dragged Cloud to the door and said in a low voice, "Hey, if you can you might wanna take the girl out and see if she can fight." Cloud nodded.

When he came back to the girls he was about to say just that when the phone rang. He rolled his eyes, "If it's that fool I'm going to shoot him..." he grieved as he answered the phone.

Instantly Reno's voice came through the phone, "Yo, I'm coming over to see Cassie-" Cloud hung up the phone.

He turned to Cassie, "Well, if you're intent on not seeing Reno I guess we should leave now. Bring your daggers."

Cassie only nodded asking, "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where we can train you," Cloud said, gesturing to Kadaj to go get his sword.

* * *

><p>Reno burst through the bar door ten minutes later. All he saw was Tifa and a few customers. Tifa smiled at him and shook her head, "Sorry Reno, she already left. Try again later."<p>

Reno rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head, "I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth trying anymore..."

Tifa just laughed, "Don't worry she won't stay mad forever, just give her time." She looked closely at him, "You know, I've never seen you try so hard to get a girl before. What? Did you fall in love in only two days?"

Reno choked, "Uh, nah, it's nothing like that. It's just I feel bad for her, you know. Not many people believe her." He put his hand behind his head and shrugged.

Tifa nodded, "Not many true, but I'm not so sure anymore that it matters. If it is that she imagined this whole other world I don't thing it means anything. What matters is that she believes its real, the good times and the bad times."

Reno looked at her curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

Tifa went back to cleaning off the bar, "Well, she often gets this look in her eyes. Obviously something bad happened to her in that world that still haunts her..." She shrugged.

Reno just thought about what she had said. He shrugged too. He turned to walk out of the bar, "Well, anyways me and Rude have been assigned to ya'lls team, so I'll see ya in a few days."

"Alright," Tifa said as he walked out.

* * *

><p>Cassie gestured for a time out. As she stood there panting Cloud and Kadaj nodded. "Good, you've got the basics down," Cloud was saying. "In fact you're pretty decent."<p>

When Cassie had caught her breath she said, "What do you mean, I've just got my ass handed to me on a silver plate..."

Cloud wagged his finger, "Remember, both Kadaj and I are experienced fighters. We're also intelligent. Most of the monsters we'll encounter are pretty primitive. They can be strong, but as brains go, they don't really think in terms of exploiting your weaknesses." He studied the girl. "More to the point if a time ever comes where you're seperated from us, you have enough skill to at least keep the monsters at bay until you get away, or until help comes. What matters is that you have enough skill to stay alive."

He clapped the girl on the shoulder, "Anyways, you'll get more practice and skill through our travels, so don't sweat it." He looked at the sun, it was just setting, "We should be heading back."

* * *

><p>Two continents away in Cosmo Canyon, just after sunset, a scientist was aligning the large telescope to an area that was going to be the highlight of the star festival. As he zeroed in on the coordinates he noticed a large blacked out area. Puzzled, he adjusted the lenses, thinking it was out of focus. Yet still the large area remained darkened. He reached over to see who was the last person on the rotation that had messed with the telescope. Finding it he noticed that the last time anyone had looked through the telescope had been two days ago, and they had left a note saying the telescope needed maintenence. Shrugging, deciding that the maintenence crew had yet gotten to it he too left a note about it, then turned away from the telescope to go fill out the necessary paperwork. He sincerely hoped the telescope got fixed soon, they had only two weeks before the festival.<p> 


End file.
